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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Effects of the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) at age 8 years: preliminary
Gloria B McAnulty1, Frank H Duffy, Samantha C Butler
1Departments of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston, 320 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Insights
The Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) shows lasting benefits for very preterm infants. Children who received NIDCAP care demonstrated improved brain function at school age.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care and developmental pediatrics.
- Neuroscience and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
- Clinical trial research in high-risk infants.
Background:
- Very preterm infants (< or =29 weeks postmenstrual age) are at high risk for neurodevelopmental deficits.
- Early interventions aim to mitigate long-term cognitive and neurological impairments.
- The Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) is a developmental care approach designed to support vulnerable infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the long-term effects of the NIDCAP intervention at 8 years of age.
- To compare neuropsychological and neuroelectrophysiological outcomes between NIDCAP-treated and control groups.
- To determine if early neurobehavioral and physiological measures predict later brain function.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 38 high-risk preterm infants.
- Neuropsychological assessments and EEG spectral coherence measures administered at school age (8 years).
- Follow-up of 22 children (11 control, 11 experimental) from the original cohort.
Main Results:
- The NIDCAP experimental group showed significantly better right hemisphere and frontal lobe function compared to the control group.
- Both neuropsychological and neurophysiological assessments revealed significant advantages for the NIDCAP group.
- Newborn neurobehavioral and physiological data successfully predicted beneficial brain function effects observed at age 8.
Conclusions:
- The NIDCAP intervention demonstrates lasting positive effects on brain function extending into school age.
- Early individualized developmental care can lead to improved neurodevelopmental outcomes in very preterm infants.
- Findings support the continued use and investigation of NIDCAP for high-risk preterm populations.
Abstract:
The current study reports the effects of NIDCAP (Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) at 8 years of age for a randomized controlled trial of 38 very early born (< or =29 weeks postmenstrual age), high-risk preterm infants. It was hypothesized that the experimental group at school age in comparison with the control group would perform significantly better neuropsychologically and neuroelectrophysiologically. Twenty-two (11 control, 11 experimental) children of the original 38 (18 control, 20 experimental) participants were studied at school age with a detailed neuropsychological battery and with EEG spectral coherence measures. Results indicated significantly better right hemisphere and frontal lobe function in the experimental group than the control group, both neuropsychologically and neurophysiologically. Neurobehavioral and physiological results in the newborn period successfully predicted the beneficial brain function effects at age 8 years. Results support the conclusion that the NIDCAP intervention has lasting effects into school age.
